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Dwight D. Eisenhower: Secret Recordings

Between 1949 and 1950, Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly recorded a number of meetings while president of Columbia University. While U.S. president, Eisenhower secretly recorded at least 25 additional meetings in the Oval Office. In the 1990s, archivists at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library discovered and released close to 15 hours of these recordings. more about the tapes →

The complete collection of Eisenhower recordings is available for download below.

Dwight D. Eisenhower - Pre-Presidential Recordings

The complete collection of Eisenhower's Pre-Presidential Recordings is available for download below. The Miller Center received the audio recordings from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library as multiple audio files. Each audio file represented a single dictabelt recording. Often a particular conversation would span multiple dictabelts. We have spliced audio files together when we could identify overlap between two audio files. We have also arranged the conversations chronologically. To access the non spliced audio files as we received them from the Eisenhower Library, click Original Audio Files.

The Eisenhower Library has created detailed descriptions of the following conversations. Click Pre-Presidential Descriptions to access a full-text searchable .pdf version of these descriptions. We have also broken the descriptions into individual descriptions for each conversation below.

Meeting with Yusif el Bandak—November 2, 1949

El Bandak, an Arab Christian from Bethlehem, speaks about the plight of Christians in the Holy Land. He is in New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations and to help fund relief efforts for Christians in Palestine.

Meeting with John Foster Dulles—December 20, 1949

Eisenhower and Dulles discuss a current water shortage in New York City, national debt, the increasing materialism in American society, and communism. Eisenhower says he is unsure whether he wants to run for political office.

Meeting with Dr. and Mrs Rudolph R. De Villiers—December 21, 1949

After presenting Eisenhower with a book on Switzerland, De Villiers updates Eisenhower on the leukemia foundation he established. De Villiers asks for Eisenhower's advice on publishing a book dealing with the illness and death of his son.

Meeting with Henry Cabot Lodge and Telephone Conversation with William Burnham—June 9, 1950

Eisenhower and Lodge talk about possible communists in government. Eisenhower agrees with Oliver Wendell Holmes that the basic rights of American citizenship do not include the right to be employed by the government.

Eisenhower talks briefly about education and the "role of the university."

Meeting with Unidentified Man—Date Unknown

Eisenhower and the unidentified man discuss investments to increase individual income and Congress's motives in granting farm subsidies. They also talk about general economic and business trends, including the gross national product of 1949, money supply, deficit spending, the law of supply and demand and the economic recovery since World War II.

Meeting with Unidentified Man—Date Unknown

Dwight D. Eisenhower - Presidential Recordings

The complete collection of Eisenhower's Presidential Recordings is available for download below. The Miller Center received the audio recordings from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library as multiple audio files. Each audio file represented a single dictabelt recording. Often a particular conversation would span multiple dictabelts. We have spliced audio files together when we could identify overlap between two audio files. We have also arranged the conversations chronologically. To access the non spliced audio files as we received them from the Eisenhower Library, click Original Audio Files.

The Eisenhower Library has created detailed descriptions of the following conversations. Click Presidential Descriptions to access a full-text searchable .pdf version of these descriptions. We have also broken the descriptions into individual descriptions for each conversation below.